Saudi petroleum giant Aramco is resuming talks with India’s Reliance about taking a 20% stake in its downstream business, according to a 9 November report by ET Now, the TV Channel owned by India’s Economic Times. After a pause in negotiations because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the two companies reportedly remain committed to the deal while Aramco wants to undertake a physical inspection of the assets concerned – two refineries at Jamnagar in northwest India with combined capacity of 1.82mn b/d plus 30mn t/y of integrated petrochemicals capacity. The deal will also include the supply of 500,000 b/d of Saudi crude (MEES, 16 August 2019).
Aramco signed a letter of intent in August 2019 to buy 20% of Reliance’s refining and petrochemicals and at the time of Aramco’s 2Q20 earning call was undertaking due diligence. The deal is unlikely to close soon though, with Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser saying “It’s a big deal, so we need to take our time” (MEES, 14 August). (CONTINUED - 163 WORDS)